Seeking itinerary advice for 1st time travel

How many nights will you sleep in Europe and what month(s) will you go?

Hi cvam, Welcome to the forum!
So, you have 7-10 days and have Madrid, Paris and possibly a beach destination in your sights. Time obviously is a constraint because one can easily take 3 days in Madrid and 4-5 days in Paris to scratch the surface.
While in Spain’s capital of Madrid, I recommend taking one daytrip to Spain’s first capital— Toledo. The medieval center of Toledo was the capital until it was moved to Madrid in 1561. So, you’ll see a city where almost all the architecture predates 1561. Toledo is a 35-minute train ride from Madrid’s Atocha train station.

Because the time you have is limited, you might want to visit a beach town in between Madrid and Paris. That brings San Sebastián/Donostia in the Basque Country to mind, although you could easily visit St. Jean de Luz, Biarritz, or Bayonne right over the border in the Basque Country of France.
The fastest high-speed train to San Sebastián/Donostia from Madrid takes 5.5 hours.
The high-speed train in France runs from Hendaye, France to Paris. Hendaye is the first town you enter when crossing the border from Hondaribbia in Spain. The high-speed trains take upward of 4.75 hours to reach Paris from Hendaye.
Before locking in your accommodations, take a look at train fares because going on a Wednesday can cost $35 while going on a Friday or Sunday can cost $200.
So plan your trip around bargain train and plane fares.
If that is more train time than you planned on, you might look at airfares available from Madrid to Paris ( Paris Orly Airport is the closest to central Paris) at www.Skyscanner.com
If you decide to fly to Paris and you still want to visit a beach town, you might want to take a high-speed train from Madrid to Valencia, Spain. Valencia has really nice beaches and is just 2 hours by high-speed train. You can see train fares ( from $15) and schedules at www.TheTrainline.com. Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo Espana all run trains to Valencia from Madrid’s Chamartin Clara-Campoamor train station on the north side of town.

Before you go any further.... you said 1 -1.5 weeks. That's 7-11 days. Subtract 2 days for transatlantic travel. Now you have 5-9 days.
And you want to visit multiple cities in each of 3 different countries?

I would suggest reading the various articles in the Travel Tips section. Start with the Travel planning. It will help you focus your itinerary in a more realistic way. https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/itinerary-tips

Good luck on your trip planning.

Keep in mind that for most their first day in Europe after a long flight is more a day of recovery than sightseeing, though they may be able to see some sights on that day. That having been said, a few questions:

1. How many nights will you spend in Europe? Will you have five nights, or seven, or 10 or 11?

2. What two or three places do you want to see the most and then try ranking them in priority?

Finally, try to fly out of the last city you visit rather than traveling back to the city you flew into.

I'm not employed by Rick's company, but for one's first trip to Europe I'd strongly recommend signing up for a Rick Steves tour.

With such a short time, just stay in Spain, lots to see there.

From Madrid do day trips to Toledo and Segovia.

Then head to Seville or Barcelona. If you go to Seville, consider visiting Cordoba as well.

You can easily spend a week in Spain without getting very far, likewise any country in Europe. I've spent weeks in smaller cities like Porto, Salzburg, Heidelberg, Trier, Riems, etc. I suggest you just pick one country, and then pick the top 3 things you need to see there, and build your vacation around seeing those.

It's a very short trip. If you try to cover too much ground, you'll find you've spent most of your vacation on trains and waiting in rail stations. If it were me, I'd do two cities, but knowing I wont see much of either. And look at multi-city (aka open jaw) ticketing for airfare.

Do some research on jet lag. If you've not experienced it before, it can mess up your internal body clock for the first few days, and interfere with your plans. You might be the fortunate one who can push through, but just beware.

@cvam,
As you can see from the previous posts one axiom of travel is the more places you visit, the less time you spend there. The itinerary you suggest will consume at lease two full days of your time traveling.

Personally, I like to spend one or two weeks in a country before traveling on to the next. My wife and I were in Spain a few years ago and in the week we were there we didn't get to all of the cities we wanted to see.

IMO you should see Madrid and Barcelona on your first trip to Spain (there will be other opinions regarding this and other cities to see, this is just my opinion regrading my preference for visiting large cities).

Three days in Madrid (not including your arrival day) will let you see the top attractions, palaces, museums, etc. Same for Barcelona. Barcelona has urban beaches right in the center of the city. Or you can travel out away from the city to more quiet and relaxed beaches.

As for to and from air travel, I like to fly as direct as possible on my way to Europe. This most likely means Madrid or Barcelona, depending upon your airline choice. On the way home I'm OK with a stop or two if this keeps me from backtracking (e.g. traveling back to Madrid) for a more direct flight. Why? I want to sleep on the way over and then want to stay (mostly) awake on the way back. If you can, avoid a connection through London Heathrow (no offense intended, just a busy and conjested connection experience) unless this will give you a direct flight back to our home airport.

Have a great trip!

Please plan on this first trip being the start of more trips to Europe.
Consider these thought…….

1. Spain is a country with multiple cultural identities, each offering experiences akin to traveling to different countries.
2. Please purchase an “open jaw” airline ticket where you arrive at one destination while departing from another. TIME is your most precious commodity while on vacation so avoiding back tracking to catch a flight is a wise investment for your time.
3. Fly to Seville (most likely with an ez connection via Madrid), train to Madrid and then train to Barcelona.
4. Please use the Spain travel forum to explore folks opinions of their experiences in visiting these cities. Obviously I recommend the itinerary, but desire for you to hear from others to help define a journey best for you.
5. Staying within Spain does help simplify your travel research needs.
6. Consider travel in May or mid September to mid October to reduce impact of heat and, hopefully, crowds.
7. Barcelona offers the beach experience you seek.
8. Consider staying three nights in Seville, three nights in Madrid and four nights in Barcelona.

Our travel style is to “Be There than to See There.” We find taking the time to explore the destination provides an opportunity to create wonderful travel memories. There are also advantages to unpacking/repacking fewer times while on vacation. Tip: upon arrival at your hotel always take a walk around the block. So many times this walk helped orient us and also lead to discovering convenient places to eat/drink.

Another poster mentioned taking a RS tour which is a wonderful way to take advantage of RS expertise while also providing some travel mates. At a minimum, take a gander at the RS tour itineraries to gain an understanding of places you may value.

Good luck
!

Looking for it to be about 1-1.5 weeks in length.

Is that total, or per country?

If 'total', pick one country.

Flights from/to US will depend on what you ultimately decide for an itinerary.

What time of year you go will affect what, if any, beach experience is feasible.

A few more details from you will help responders provide useful info.